Chris Haver

Early life

Chris Haver was born on Feb. 6, 1966 to Joyce Haver and Ralph Haver II in Phoenix, Arizona. A 3rd generation Phoenician, Chris Haver is the grandson of Ralph Burgess Haver, an architect that made a significant impact in Phoenix with his affordable Haver Home tract housing developments and numerous commercial projects such as the North Phoenix Baptist Church, American Express Regional Headquarters, and the old Phoenix City Hall Complex.

Haver was an adventurous child from an early age. At the age of two years, he tried to scale a 50-foot flagpole at a playground near his home. As he grew up, he took a significant interest in sports and went on to become an accomplished skier. Haver attended Brophy College Preparatory, a prestigious all-boys college preparatory in Phoenix. He graduated in 1984.

Seven Summits

While attending SDSU, Haver decided that he wanted to climb and ski the Seven Summits, the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents, before he was 30. He first climbed Mount Everest in 1989 at the age of 23 with the International Goodwill Expedition. While on the expedition, he met Mike McDowell, a founding partner of Quark Expeditions and other adventure travel enterprises. He would go on to become one of Haver’s business associates and a close friend.

After returning from the Everest trip, Haver broke both of his ankles while jumping off an 80-foot cliff at Tonto Natural Bridge outside of Payson, Arizona. He was aiming for a deep pond, but missed and landed on a rock. After sustaining two compound fractures, Haver required multiple surgeries and 2 ½ years of physical therapy.

Haver resumed his quest for the Seven Summits in 1993 by climbing and skiing Mount McKinley in North America. In early 1994, he tackled Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro. Later that year, he conquered Mount Elbrus in European Russia, Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko, and Antarctica’s Mount Vinson Massif where he sustained frostbite on one of his big toes. He finished the quest in January 1996 in Argentina on Mount Aconcagua approximately two weeks shy of his 30th birthday, becoming the first American to accomplish the feat.

Trip to Titanic

In 1998, Haver planned to join an expedition to the shipwreck of the RMS Titanic with Deep Ocean Exploration. When RMS Titanic heard of the trip, the company obtained a court order that banned Haver and any other party from visiting the site. In 1999, Haver joined Deep Ocean Expeditions and other parties in a suit against RMST for salvager and possession rights. While Haver and the others lost in Federal Court, the case moved onto the 4th Circuit Appellate Court where the judge ruled in their favor.

The decision was appealed once again. When the case was presented to the US Supreme Court, the decision from the Appellate Court stood. If the case had gone to trial, Chief Justice Sandra Day O’Connor would have had to recuse herself due to her friendship with Haver. After the case, Haver joined DOE on an expedition to the shipwreck with Mike McDowell and a pilot, where they had lunch on the bow of the ship. In all, they spent 11 hours diving and photographing the site.

Throughout the course of litigating and diving the Titanic, Haver became friends with film director and documentarian James Cameron. Haver went on to found Deep Ocean One (DOO) with Mike Mcdowell, a company that aimed to bring the benefits of deep-sea exploration to the public. In 2007, DOO worked with Cameron’s documentary film company to televise and host a live feed with Cameron and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Chris hosted the event in Phoenix while Cameron was on a support ship positioned directly above the Titanic.

Relationship with Gregorio Fuentes

Haver met Gregorio Fuentes, considered by some to be the influence for Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” with a few of his business associates in Cohimar, Cuba in 1995. After the group traded stories for a few hours, Haver and Fuentes formed a quick friendship. Haver made it a point to see Fuentes and his grandson any time he was in Cuba until his last visit (in 1999) before Fuentes’s death in 2002. Famed radio personality Paul Harvey did a segment on his show, “The Rest of the Story” which chronicled Chris and his friends finding and meeting Gregorio.

92 & 95 America’s Cup

After graduating from college Haver began working with Knight and Carver, a company that owned a marina in Mission Bay of San Diego. In 1991, Haver formed the Mission Bay Organizing Committee (MBOC) to develop facilities for the 1992 and 1995 America's Cup sailing races in San Diego.

Because none of the international teams had returned his phone calls or faxes, Haver snuck into the Challenger of Records Dinner hosted by Louis Vitton at the San Diego Yacht Club to meet the teams face to face. After mingling during the cocktail hour, he sat with the Japanese team because it was the only open seat at the reception dinner. After meeting the team’s PR director, Emily Miura, he realized she was the daughter of Yuichiro Miura. The two of them had initially corresponded while Haver was preparing to climb Everest. Yuirchiro was the first person to ski Mt Everest in 1970, and became the first person to climb and ski all of the Seven Summits.

The Japanese America’s Cup team became the first to join up with Knight & Carver and the MBOC. Ultimately, Haver hosted six of the nine teams including France, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Spain, and the USA in Mission Bay. He was responsible for the complete design, construction and facilities management for each of the teams Haver hosted in the 1992 and 1995 America's Cup races.

95 to Present

In 1995 Haver expanded his private equity group to include investments in software, technology, finance and real estate both in the United States and abroad. Since the mid-90s he has been a founding partner and/or principal in 16 companies, many of which are still operating today.

Real Estate Development

Haver has developed real estate, both residential and commercial, in the US and abroad under a number of different banners.

Current Business Ventures

Past Business Ventures

Private Relief Efforts

Haver coordinated one of the largest private humanitarian relief effort during the Russian recession of the early 1990s. In the end, the group delivered nearly 70 tons of food and medicine via an Antonov An-225 airplane. The group provided valuable supplies and resources to the people of Moscow.